5 Awesome Tools for Running a Small Business

Regardless of size, running a business is no piece of cake. From acquiring new customers to retaining existing ones; from successfully managing projects to maintaining happy employees; and from growth planning to profit evaluation; there are many considerations for businesses to address.

Considering the importance of technology and the power of apps, entrepreneurs should leverage savvy tools for smoothly running a business and ensuring its profitable growth.

Here are the top 5 mobile and web organizational apps that will contribute to a business’ success:

Trello

Need a tool that enables businesses to receive updates, reprioritize tasks, and communicate with team members on the fly? While there are many, only Trello can provide businesses with project management superpowers. It is an online corkboard used to organize “cards” into lists. Equipped with a Trello board, everything can be easily tracked by organizing tasks, notes, projects and shared files.

From software development and UX testing to marketing and design, this tool can be used by any business area to handle team workflow. Being location-agnostic, the Trello app enables businesses to connect with teammates, whether at the next desk or across the world. It can be used to follow production workflow, manage development schedules, organize upcoming projects and track hiring and onboarding.

Ximble

When it comes to project management, vacation time, sick leave, project assignments and labor costs result in a lot to handle. Ximble is an effective employee-scheduling app that increases productivity by saving time, money and energy. With a clean and easy-to-use interface and pre-planning with auto-scheduling feature, this app makes project management more efficient.

Ximble’s powerful time-clock feature reviews staff activity and allows businesses to download payroll sheets in only a few clicks. PTO activities are simplified using Ximble’s features, like PTO request reviews and approvals, and policy creation and editing.

Tagove

Customer service and effective communication are critical for any business. Tagove is the best platform for small start-up businesses interested in growing but unable to achieve satisfactory client feedback. It’s live chat software comes with remote co-browsing, screen sharing, chatbots and other relevant features.

Tagove’s screen sharing feature can boost sales and increase customer loyalty in the long term. It provides a faster live chat, live voice calls and instant file sharing features that work across all browsers. Tagove also includes statistics and analytics that track all customer activity, another appealing feature.

SalesLoft

SalesLoft offers deep insight into every business activity by providing 15 custom activity fields like call duration, call disposition and sentiment, email activity counts, and cadence identifiers. SalesLoft can also be used as a real-time log of all synced activities, their statuses and outcomes, because it includes details on fields, records, time, and direction. Retrying failed syncs and mapping error troubleshooting can also be done.

Monitoring and tracking project activities are crucial for any business. SalesLoft succeeds by automatically recording all calls made and emails sent by employees, eliminating the hassle of manual updates. It also enables project managers to construct phone call cadences, emails and social touches for teams to consistently follow.

The automatic tracking and logging feature saves time by setting qualified appointments and demos. SalesLoft gives a perfect strategic picture on building outbound processes, skipping the need for teachable moments. Intelligent integration, seamless workflow and sync make SalesLoft the ultimate modern sales machine.

Buffer

Social media is growing at warp speed. As a result, every business needs to leverage social media channels in the best ways possible. Social media is the “in thing,” but also the easiest way to influence target markets and connect with audiences on different levels. But hectic routines make managing multiple accounts and regularly updating content, impossible. Buffer is an efficient way to manage all social media accounts from a single dashboard.

Buffer also helps businesses measure performance, schedule content and collaborate with the team on social media. It can be used to schedule up to 2,000 advance posts and connect up to 25 social media accounts for small businesses, 50 for medium businesses, and 150 for large businesses. Buffer provides a seamless way to invite people to help manage social media accounts.

Final word

Running a small business is complicated and many don’t survive. These apps can make a significant difference in helping to overcome the fundamental issues every small business encounters.

Sawaram Suthar is head of marketing at Tagove, a provider of chat software and also a founder of Jagat Media. A digital marketing consultant, he has experience in all things marketing, including branding, promotions and page optimization, along with research and strategy. He has an MBA from the University of Pune. Follow @Tagove_ on Twitter and Facebook.

Small Biz Club is the premier destination for small business owners and entrepreneurs. To succeed in business, you have to constantly learn about new things, evaluate what you’re doing, and look for ways to improve—that’s what we’re here to help you do.